Population changes, legislative changes, time and cost constraints, and practitioner and family perceptions each affect the delivery of early intervention services. This pilot project examined current evaluation practices used with the birth to 3 population. The role of norm-referenced and authentic assessment tools in the eligibility…

As U.S. infant mortality remains relatively unchanged and maternal mortality is rising, it is increasingly clear that service providers need to address many of the modifiable risks that determine birth outcomes prior to pregnancy. Health professionals have promoted preconception care for decades as a way to improve women's and infant's health. Yet…

Symbolic play is a powerful vehicle for supporting emotional development and communication. It embraces all developmental capacities. This article describes how symbols are formed and how emotional themes are symbolized whereby children reveal their understanding of the world, their feelings and relationships, and how they see themselves in the…

This study aimed to better understand predictors of evidence-based assessment practices for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Nationwide, 402 school psychologists were surveyed for their knowledge of and training and experience with ASD on assessment practices, including reported areas of training needs. The majority of school psychologists reported…

The acquisition of everyday scientific concepts by 3-6-year-old children attending early childhood institutions has been widely studied. In contrast, research on science learning processes among younger children is less extensive. This paper reports on findings from an exploratory empirical study undertaken in a "stay and play" service…

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in many genetic disorders is well documented but not as yet in Mucopolysaccharidosis type III (MPS III). MPS III is a recessively inherited metabolic disorder and evidence suggests that symptoms of ASD present in MPS III. This systematic review examined the extant literature on the symptoms of ASD…

Too often in California, children (especially children of color, foster youth, and those growing up in poverty) lack the components critical for a healthy early life. For example, as few as 3% of families that might benefit from voluntary home visiting have access to home visiting programs, 32% of children entering foster care are under the age of…

This article discusses the current knowledge on the developmental characteristics and contexts of care for infants and toddlers who are growing up in bilingual environments at home and in their early care settings in the united States. The authors highlight relevant findings from the work of the Center of Early Care and Education Research-Dual…

In human newborns, spontaneous visual preference for biological motion is reported to occur at birth, but the factors underpinning this preference are still in debate. Using a standard visual preferential looking paradigm, 4 experiments were carried out in 3-day-old human newborns to assess the influence of translational displacement on perception…

Movement perception facilitates spatial orienting of attention in infants (Farroni, Johnson, Brockbank, & Simion, 2000). In a series of 4 experiments, we investigated how orienting of attention in infancy is modulated by dynamic stimuli. Experiment 1 (N = 36) demonstrated that 5-month-olds as well as 7-month-olds orient to the direction of a…

Maternal touch and infants' self-regulatory behaviours were examined during a modified Still-Face with Touch (SF?+?T) procedure. Mothers and their 5½-month-old infants participated in one period of Normal interaction followed by three SF?+?T periods. Maternal functions of touch, and infants' self-regulatory behaviour, affect, and…

Background: This study applies attachment and transactional theories in evaluating the dyadic interactions observed between a mother and her infant. Infant communication and maternal responsivity are highlighted as the medium for positive interaction. Objective: The impact of individualized maternal training on mother infant communicative…

Over the past several decades, researchers have discovered a great deal of information about the processes underlying language acquisition. From as early as they can be studied, infants are sensitive to the nuances of native-language sound structure. Similarly, infants are attuned to the visual and conceptual structure of their environments…

We implemented screening of children 16-30 months of age (n = 1,760) from a typically under-served, primarily Hispanic, population, at routine pediatric appointments using the modified checklist for autism in toddlers (M-CHAT) and Ages and Stages Questionnaire. Screen positive rates of 26 and 39%, respectively, were higher than previous reports.…

The distinct music genre known as baby music is based on the premise that infants benefit from music "re-orchestrated for their little ears" ("Baby Einstein Takealong Tunes". (2012). Retrieved December 11, 2012, from http://www.babyeinstein.com/en/products/product_explorer/theme/music/62350/Takealong_Tunes.html). We completed a…